“Why I Want Someone I love to Quit Smoking”
By Betty Glauberzon

When will she die? What will be our last time together? How will I survive without her? These are the thoughts that run through my head every single day. You see, my grandmother has been smoking for over twenty years. She has been like a mother to me yet slowly, day by day, she is disappearing from my life. Her deadly addiction has not only affected me, but my family, and the people around her. That is some of the many reasons why I want her to stop. I write to help her and the people who also struggle with the same problems as me.

My grandmother has been there for me my entire life. Every day when she would come home she would pick me and rock me side to side with love and care. She would feed me and hold me next to her warm heart. I was small then and did not know that a deadly monster was slowly growing in my grandmother. I was clueless until the day that my D.A.R.E. officer told me smoking could kill. As I heard that sentence my heart shot up into my throat. It was the worst sensation of my life. When I came home I began to lecture my grandmother, like a parent would to his child, but she only told me not to worry. How could I not worry? This was one of the worst things that ever happened to me.

After that everything became clearer. I could suddenly smell the terrible stench of smoke in the air as she past by or the bitterness of her kisses. Whenever she smoked in public it became and embarrassment. I could see dark faces looking down at her and tried to blow away the smoke from their nostrils. Suddenly my face would get hotter and my eyes would trail to the ground. It was like the whole world was staring down at me and telling me to stop this. I tried, I really did. I remember that I used to steal away her cigarettes from her, but she only got mad at me. How could she get mad at me for trying to help her? I was trying to save her life but she still refused. Did she want to die? I did not understand. It was like this was all a joke when it was really the difference between life and death.

As I began to search deeper into the effects of smoking. I found that not only did she put herself in the risk of cancer, but she put her family in the risk of cancer too. My father, my grandmother’s son, who has never smoked in his entire life is now prone to have cancer, Even I a thirteen year old child, am now prone to have cancer. It all seems so scary. It gives me terrible nightmares full of terror. Every night as I drift off to sleep I picture a crowded hospital room full of iridescent lights shining in my eyes. Then suddenly two black doors bang open. My grandmother is wheeled out of the emergency. Her face is cold and emotionless, while her fragile arm seems to weigh a ton. As her body disappears away in the operation room a warm tear streaks down my face. I know she will not survive. I know death is near. This is not what I want my future to be like. I want my grandmother to have a beautiful life and death in due time caused by old age, not cancer. Sometimes things are just so unfair.

I hope that when my grandmother reads this essay she will think twice about what she has done to herself and her loved ones. I want my grandmother to know that I lover and care for her. I want her to cry warm tears of sorrow and tell me that she will stop for me. I hope that if she stops, my life will become easier and that those around her will enjoy her presence much more. I hope that everyone out there knows that it is never too late to stop. You have to try and try again until your loved one has turned his or her life in the right direction.